That’s likely because Apple chips have a comparatively low clock-rate and number of processor cores compared to Android rivals.

For instance, the upcoming Snapdragon 820 by Qualcomm has a maximum clock speed of 3.0GHz. Then there’s MediaTek’s new Helio X20 chip, which has 10 processor cores.

To the average consumer, that might make Apple’s A9 look worse. However, software and hardware optimisations by Apple mean that the chips perform very well when compared to octa-core rivals used on Android devices.

Are you surprised by these new details about the Apple A9 chip? Let us know in the comments.

Why we’re different

Unlike other sites, we thoroughly review everything we recommend. We use industry standard tests to evaluate products in order to assess them properly. We’ll always tell you what we find.
Tell us what you think - send your emails to the Editor.